#Summit County, Colorado.
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| Keystone Resort |
Officials with Keystone Resort announced Thursday they will have 50 acres of skiable terrain available for Friday’s opening day. Visitors will have access to top-to-bottom skiing and riding via the gondola at the River Run Village base area.
The Montezuma chair at midmountain will also be running to access early season conditions on Spring Dipper. The upper mountain beginner area will also be open with uphill access via the Ranger lift. The River Run trail will also be open, providing base area access.
Although unseasonably warm conditions stalled snowmaking efforts for much of October, the resort operations staff were able to take advantage of near ideal snowmaking conditions overnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Strong production during the early part of the week made Friday’s opening possible.
Keystone’s A51 Terrain Park crew decided to delay the opening of its early season park because of limited snow. The staff will take advantage of ongoing snowmaking efforts and will make features available as soon as possible. Skiers and riders can stay up to date on the terrain park’s progress through Keystone’s blog and the A51 Facebook page.
Keystone will also host a number of base area activities this weekend to celebrate the beginning of their winter season. Skiers and riders waiting on first chair, scheduled for 9 a.m., will have the chance to take home some prizes and enjoy free coffee, hot chocolate and donut treats from Keystone executive pastry chef Ned Archibald. The resort will also host a number of free children’s activities in the gondola plaza base area, including a bungee trampoline, climbing wall and bounce house. The family friendly activities will be available 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Resort officials said Keystone’s mountain operations teams will continue to work towards expanding terrain as quickly as possible. Long-term forecasts are calling for a return to more seasonable temperatures early next week.
Copper Mountain Resort will also kick off their season Friday at 9 a.m. They will have top-to-bottom mountain access from the resort’s Center Village via the American Eagle and Excelerator chairlifts.
Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.
